


2015 NMTD Secret Santa

by infinitestarsintheskye



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Lovely Little Losers, Nothing Much to Do
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-04 22:58:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 8,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5351528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinitestarsintheskye/pseuds/infinitestarsintheskye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For this year's NMTD Secret Santa, I'm writing prompts daily, chosen by the recipient, fandomsaremyobession on tumblr, and these are the results. Enjoy :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prompt: Suddenly in a Musical AU (kind of) - Team Blessed

Suddenly in a Musical AU (sort of, I put my own spin on it) 

"This is your fault." Ben grumbled, dragging his feet along the linoleum floor like a two year old. 

Bea had dragged him Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve and you could barely move for people bustling about the shopping mall, grabbing last minute presents. 

"I'm sorry. But I completely forgot to get Leo something and we're kind of running out of time here and you as my lovely kind boyfriend are supporting me emotionally through this traumatic experience." Beatrice replied. 

"Yeah yeah." Ben humphed. 

The cheerful, tinkling Christmas music blasting from the mall's speakers were doing nothing to help his mood as Beatrice dragged him by the hand through the crowds of anxious shoppers. Luckily for Ben, Beatrice had been tipped off by Hero that Leo hated Christmas jumpers, so she was going to buy him one and force him to wear it all day. 

"You truly are diabolical." Ben retorted after Beatrice had explained her master plan. 

"Ah yes, but that dear Benedick is why you love me." 

Ben couldn't disagree with her there. 

Just as they were weaving through a particularly thick crowd of shoppers, the annoying tinkling music stopped. 

"THANK YOU!" Ben cried up towards the ceiling. 

Sadly for Ben his solitude was only to last a few seconds. The opening notes of the years newest, chart-topping Christmas song that both Ben and Bea detested, started blaring. 

"Noooooooooooooooooo!" They both groaned, as the notes washed over them. 

It was only to get worse from there. Out of the corner of her eye Beatrice could see a man dancing. Before either of them could blink, the first verse had started and everyone around them started dancing in time to the music. Ben whipped his head around, staring at the dancers in bewilderment. 

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" He shouted to Beatrice over the music. 

"FLASHMOB!" Beatrice yelled back.

"WHAT?!" 

"A FLASHMOB! WE'RE STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF A FUCKING FLASHMOB!" 

The only way to describe Ben's expression at this point was dumbstruck. Bea started pulling at his hand, trying to get him to move, whilst also avoiding the moving limbs of the dancers around them. 

"MOVE DICKFACE!" She screamed at him. 

Suddenly Benedick shook himself out of his reverie. 

"MOVE!" Bea yelled again. 

She started pulling his hand again but Ben had very different plans. He dropped Bea's hand and raised his hands up in the air, waving them about in some sort of strange jig. 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Beatrice yelled at him. 

"BLENDING IN!" Was his reply, as he jigged his way through the dancers. 

Beatrice started weaving her way through the dancers at breakneck speed, Ben dancing quite happily behind her. Eventually they emerged from the crowd, Beatrice exasperated, and Ben, a grin plastered on his face. Beatrice slumped herself against the nearest wall and slowly slid down it until she was sitting on the floor. 

"I am NEVER going Christmas shopping with you again." She declared. 

Ben, still smiling, sat down beside her. 

"Come on! That was hilarious." He protested.

Beatrice just shook her head in reply. 

"You are just jealous of my fabulous dance moves. They're why you fell in love with me." 

Beatrice let out a small chuckle. 

"Oh yeah, that's why." 

She leaned his head on his shoulder and watched the dancers moving to the rest of that insipid song. 

"I really hate this song." She said after a few moments. 

"Me too love, me too."


	2. Star Wars vs Star Trek - Team Blessed

Star Wars vs. Star Trek

"SAY THAT AGAIN HOBBES!" 

War had broken out in the Duke/Hobbes residence, for god knows what time, and a face-off was taking place around the sofa.

"STAR TREK IS BETTER THAN STAR WARS! COME AT ME DUKE!" Benedick yelled. 

At this juncture Beatrice leaped over the sofa, lunging at Ben. 

"HOW HAVE I BEEN MARRIED TO YOU FOR TEN YEARS AND NOT KNOWN HOW WRONG YOU ARE?!" Beatrice yelled, whilst chasing Ben around the sofa. 

"SOLO BEATS KIRK EVERY TIME HOBBES ADMIT IT!" 

"NEVER!" 

This went on for several minutes before they were interrupted by a loud wailing from the coffee table. 

"NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" Beatrice screamed at Ben, gesturing towards the baby monitor on the coffee table. 

"WHAT I DID?! I'M SORRY YOU WOKE OUR DAUGHTER UP WITH YOUR WRONGNESS!" 

Beatrice had grabbed for the baby monitor and turned and made a face to Ben before whispering: 

"Shhh don't listen to Daddy sweetheart, Mummy is right." Into the monitor. 

"Stop poisoning our daughter!" Ben protested. 

"I'm just telling her what she's going to find out eventually." 

Ben humphed and quickly dashed upstairs and swiftly returned with their daughter in his arms. The girl was Beatrice in image, except for her eyes which were all Benedick's. 

"Now Emmi, show Mummy what we just practiced." Ben said, stroking the girls head which was now placed on his shoulder. 

She raised her small right hand towards Beatrice and made the vulcan symbol. 

"How the hell did you get our one year old to do that?" 

"Magic dear Beatrice, magic." 

"Foul play Hobbes, foul play." She said leaning in to kiss Emmi's head. 

"You win this round Hobbes. Just."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (For those wondering Emmi's full name is Emilia after the Othello character. I couldn't resist naming her something from Shakespeare's work)


	3. What Happened After Hero's Party - Team Blessed

 

Beatrice slowly shut the door to Hero's room and let out a deep sigh. It had been a long night. Eventually Hero had exhausted herself with crying and fallen asleep. Beatrice had never been so ready to go out and kill a man than she had been at that very moment. Whilst Hero's head had been in her lap, she'd been mentally listing all of the awful things she was going to do to Claudio the next time she saw him. The list was at about 76 when Hero had finally fallen asleep.  
Beatrice made her way back down to the kitchen, adding to her list. Leo had disappeared after everything kicked off, truly securing himself the 'Big Brother of the Year Award', so now Beatrice, after shooing everyone out, and calming down Hero, was now going to have to clean up the party mess. She made a mental note to make a less Game of Thrones-esq list for Leo later. However, much to her surprise when she re-entered the kitchen, she found that it was spotless. To her even greater surprise, Benedick Hobbes was sitting at the breakfast bar, thrumming his fingers gently on the worktop. He noticed her enter and stumbled slightly out of his chair, turning to face her. 

"The kitchen..." Beatrice gestured lazily around herself. 

"It was the least I could do." Was Ben's swift reply. 

"Thank you." Beatrice added softly.

Beatrice slowly made her way over to the chair next to Benedick, and sat down, Ben following suit. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, drinking in the silence, and the strange tension that still hung over the kitchen. 

"How's Hero?" Ben asked tentatively, softly breaking the silence. 

"Asleep." Beatrice sighed. 

"And how are you?" He asked next. 

Beatrice looked up at him. 

"Ready to disembowel Claudio." 

Ben let out a small chuckle. 

"I'm not sure Hero would thank you for that." 

Beatrice broke their eye contact and stared down at the worktop. 

"Nah she wouldn't." 

They sat in silence again for a while, Beatrice mulling over the nights events in her head, the pain and the hurt on Hero's face playing on repeat, until she couldn't keep it in anymore. Ben jumped slightly when he heard the first, small, quiet sob, the second followed soon after and he realised she was crying. He didn't know if it was crossing a line or not, but he tentatively put his hand on her shoulder and guided her into a hug, her head coming to rest in the nape of his neck, her arms wrapping slowly around his torso. He gently started stroking her hair, his eyes closing, overwhelmed with that indescribable feeling of seeing someone you care about, deeply upset, the feeling growing every time he felt her hot tears fall on his neck. Beatrice would never be able to describe it, but she felt an strange sense of peace and calm in Ben's arms, like the whole world had come to rights, just for those few moments that he held her. She eventually pulled back, wiping her eyes. 

"I'm sorry. I don't... I'm not... I don't cry." She muttered. 

"It's okay to cry Beatrice. It's not a crime. No one will think any less of you for crying." 

Beatrice gave a small watery smile and placed her head back on his shoulder. 

"Thank you Ben. For being here." She whispered. 

Ben leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"Anytime Bea."


	4. Future Fic- Team Blessed

Future fic (Team Blessed)

 

Ben had had a very long day, and was very much looking forward to going home, snuggling up with his wife on the sofa and ruthlessly ridiculing whatever trash TV was on that night. He'd been stuck in traffic for ages, so long in fact that the concept of hitting his head off of the steering wheel until he was unconscious was becoming a rapidly appealing prospect. When he finally got home, he'd never been so happy to put his keys down in his entire life. He toed off his shoes and padded into the living room and hurdled over the back of the sofa, plonking himself next to his wife. 

"Hello love." He said, a grin on his face. 

"DON'T DO THAT BEN! God, I almost had a heart attack." Beatrice shouted at him, thwacking him over the head with a pillow. 

"Sorry love." He kissed her head as she leaned back into him. 

"So how was work?" Beatrice asked.

"Ugh." 

"That good huh?" 

"You could have spent all day lying on a bed of nails and still had a better day than me." Ben groaned. 

"I think I have a way to make it better." 

"Beatrice, my darling loving wife, there is nothing on this earth that could improve my day so exponentially, but I appreciate the suggestion of the effort." 

This earned Ben another pillow to the face. 

"Just let me try dickface." 

"Alright, alright." He conceded. 

"Okay, first you have to close your eyes and put out your hands." 

"Beatrice, I'm not three!" 

But a stern look from Beatrice had Ben sitting with his eyes closed tight, and his hands out in front of him, whilst Beatrice rummaged in a cupboard behind him. Eventually Ben felt the smooth texture of wrapping paper and what felt like a box being placed in his hands. 

"Okay you can open!" 

Ben opened his eyes, and sure enough, lying in his hands was a box, covered in wrapping paper with a multicoloured stripe pattern. 

"This isn't your way of telling me you're gay is it?" Ben joked. 

Beatrice's brow furrowed at his slightly distasteful joke. 

"No you tit! Open it." 

Ben looked over at his wife wearing a bemused expression and tore off the bright paper. Underneath it was a brown box. 

"Open iiiiittttttt!" Beatrice nudged him excitedly. 

"Okay weirdo." 

Ben opened the two flaps of the brown box and found nestled on top of a bunch of styrofoam peanuts, a children's book. 

"'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury." He read, pulling the book out of the box. 

"It was my favourite book as a kid. My dad used to read it to me and do really great voices." Beatrice explained. 

At this point Ben was more confused than ever.

"But why are you giving it to me?" He asked. 

"Open it." Beatrice prodded again. 

Ben flicked open the front cover, and on the title page there was a picture taped to it. A little black and white, blobby looking picture. Ben stared at it in awe for a couple of seconds before sputtering: 

"Is this?!" 

Beatrice nodded, smiling. Ben dived at her, book still clutched in his hand, a wide grin spread across his face. He pulled back, ridiculous grin still spread across his face. 

"A baby?" 

"A baby, Ben." Beatrice confirmed. 

"I am never doubting you ability to turn my bad days around again." 

Beatrice laughed. 

"I found out a few days ago and I could not think of how to tell you, but today I saw the book and the image of you reading this book to our offspring was too tempting." 

"It's so tiny!" Ben exclaimed, looking at the picture. 

"Almost, you could say, the size of an olive." 

"Oh my god." 

The dad jokes had begun.


	5. Candy Canes - Hero

Candy cane- Do with this what you want

 

Hero had always loved Christmas. She could never quite put her finger on exactly what it was, the smells, the pretty decorations, the familial aspects of it all. The deep, rich smells that always wafted from the kitchen in the lead up to Christmas was always one of Hero's favourite things. Plus there was always the guarantee of seeing Beatrice and that was never a disappointment. The only thing Hero disliked about Christmas was New Zealand's very poignant lack of snow. When she was little Hero adored scenes of picturesque Christmas scenes, all adorned with colourful lights and a dusting snow. Aged five, when she still didn't quite understand how the weather worked, all she asked for for Christmas, was for it to snow. That particular Christmas morning started in tears for poor little Hero, when Mumma drew back the curtains. She was quickly plonked on her Mumma's knee and comforted, whilst she sobbed those big, gasping sobs, only five years olds are capable of doing. 

"I just wanted it to snow." 

"I know my little darling. I know." Mumma comforted. 

"But you know what?" Mumma had continued. 

"You can still have snow Pumpkin. You want to know how?" 

Hero had nodded her little head furiously. 

"Close your eyes, and picture the house in your mind. Can you see it?" 

"Yep!" She'd replied. 

"Now imagine the whole house, the whole of Messina covered in a blanket of snow." 

"I CAN SEE IT I CAN SEE IT!" Hero had yelled, her eyes still tightly shut. 

"Thank you Mumma!" She'd declared throwing her arms around her. 

"You are very welcome my little darling." 

Ever since that year, on Christmas Eve, Hero would sneak off for an hour, just by herself, clutching a mug of hot chocolate with a candy cane stirrer. She goes and sits by the window in her bedroom, cradling her hot chocolate, sucking on the candy cane with her eyes closed, imagining the snow falling gently down the window outside. She'd never experienced snow before, never smelt the crisp air that comes with it, so to Hero, snow smelled of candy canes, sweet and minty and everything Christmassy.


	6. What Happened At the End of IDIOTS - Team Blessed

What happened at the end of IDIOTS

It physically pained Ben to see her like that. What hurt even more was that he didn't know how to make it better, he so desperately wanted to take her hurt away and he couldn't. It was then that it hit him. He loved her. He loved her and there was no shitter time in the world to be recognising that finally. But he couldn't do nothing. He took her hand in his and started stroking it slowly. Beatrice's eyes widened slightly at his touch, but she squeezed his hand gently, letting him know that it was okay. It was then that both of them moved. It happened so quickly, neither of them knew if Ben's hands were at the nape of her neck first or if Bea's hands were on Ben's face before that, but it was definitely Ben who placed his lips on Beatrice's first. The whole thing started off so fast but the actual kiss was very slow, both of them trying hard to savour the moment. They broke apart and Bea wrapped her arms around Ben in a hug, resting her chin on his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry it took till now to get over myself." Beatrice said quietly. 

"Ditto. I'm sorry for the crappy timing." Ben replied 

Ben could feel her face twisting into that same worried frown she'd had on earlier. 

"It really could not be worse really." Beatrice sighed. 

"Thanks Ben. For just being here really. I just can't believe anything of this. I just want to hurt Claudio so badly, make him feel physically what he did to her." She'd continued. 

"I know. Claudio was so out of line and..." He stopped dead in the middle of his sentence, his eyes widening like great globes.

Beatrice felt his body stiffen and pulled back from him. 

"What?" She asked. 

Ben raised his hand and pointed at the camera. 

"Is that thing still on?" 

"Awh FUCK!"


	7. Soulmate au (The first words your soulmate says to you is somewhere on your body) - Pedrazar

Soulmate au (The first words your soulmate says to you is somewhere on your body) Pedrazar

 

It had alway been there, for as long as he could remember, the white scar across his hipbone, in loopy writing, reading 'Peter Donaldson'. His fingers always sketched over it from time to time. He'd pictured Peter a billion different times, in a billion different ways. Finally he'd decided that Peter was taller than him, not by much, with ginger hair that stuck up in every possible direction, freckles dancing across his cheeks, and had warm blue eyes. So when he met this boy who introduced himself as 'Peter Donaldson but everyone call me Pedro', and he had styled blonde hair, brown eyes and a freckle free face, he was taken aback slightly. Yet he found the real life Peter, or Pedro as he liked to be called, infinitely better than his pale, ginger imaginary Peter. His eyes, though not blue, still held the same warmth as he'd imagined, but also an unimaginable depth to them.  
He blamed himself as the reason why it took so long for Peter to realise he was his soulmate. He'd introduced himself as 'Balthazar' not 'Stanley' and since he had no classes with him and no other reason to tell him his real name, it stayed undiscovered until a year after they met. It was really Ben and Beatrice's fault that it all came out. They were having an argument about, on Beatrice's side, how the whole soulmate thing was stupid. It was later discovered that this was because she'd found out that her name was scrawled across Ben's wrist in her handwriting, which was usually hidden underneath a thick leather bracelet, and he'd found his name plastered across the bottom of her left foot, but that's another story. 

"It's just so stupid, like what if you have a nickname? It's not like the universe can take that into account." Beatrice had protested. 

"So what? It's not like loads people have names that are so different from their real names." Ben counter- argued. 

Beatrice had stared at him as if he'd just legitimately said he'd thought the moon was made of cheese. 

"BALTHAZAR!" She'd shouted, gesturing at Balthazar dramatically. 

It was here that Peter/Pedro, had interrupted. 

"Wait, so your name's not actually Balthazar?" 

"Nope." He'd replied. 

"What's your real name then? I can't believe I've known you for over a year and I still don't know your real name." 

"Uhm, it's Stanley. Stanley Jones." 

Peter paled. 

"W,wha,at?!" He'd stuttered. 

Before Balthazar could answer, Peter had gotten up, protesting that he had to be somewhere, anywhere. He'd chased after him, pulling his hand so he turned around to face him. 

"Pedro I can explain..." 

"Can you?! You knew all this time?!" 

"Yes." He'd said, lifting up his t-shirt to reveal his soulmate scar. 

Peter stared at it for several seconds, before pulling the shoulder of his t-shirt down to show the words 'Stanley Jones' printed neatly across his shoulder. 

"It was you all this time?" Peter asked again. 

"Yes." 

"I-I need time to process this." Peter explained. 

"That's fine, that's, fair." Balthazar muttered, staring at his shoes. 

Peter started walking away but Balthazar stopped him. 

"Pedro!" 

He turned back. 

"What?" 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." 

Peter made a face, only describable as sadness mixed with frustration and confusion. He turned back again, walking away again, leaving Balthazar alone to stare at his retreating figure.


	8. Soulmate AU (The name of your soulmate is somewhere on your body)- Team Blessed

Soulmate au (The name of your soulmate is somewhere on your body)- Team Blessed

 

Ever since Beatrice could read the white scarring on the bottom of her left foot, she'd declared 'Benedick' was the stupidest name on earth. Her mum had explained that maybe she shouldn't be so nasty about the person she was destined to spend the rest of her life with, but Beatrice was adamant that 'Benedick' was the most ridiculous name she'd ever heard.  
Watching 'Toy Story' was a favourite pastime of little Beatrice's, owing to the characters also having names on the bottom of their feet, although she'd much prefer 'Andy' over 'Benedick Hobbes' scrawled on her foot any day.  
She never put much thought into her soulmate, never wondering who he is or what he looked like, only that his name was stupid, so when she met the very tall, lanky, dark haired, blue eyed, fourteen year old who introduced himself as 'Benedick Hobbes, but I prefer to be called Ben', there was very little to be surprised by. She'd had very little expectations to be surprised by, only that she was quite glad he didn't like to go by his full name.  
She hated how quickly she fell for him. He made it so easy, he was funny, they got on well and she felt almost instantly comfortable in his presence. She'd flirted, as much as a fourteen year old could and she thought he'd been flirting back. As it turned out, he hadn't.  
It was her last night in Messina before she left to go back home to Wellington and she and Ben had planned to meet in the play park that sat roughly halfway between their houses, at one o'clock in the morning. Beatrice had gotten there first and was sitting on the swing, toying at the loose dirt underneath her with the top of her shoe. She saw his long silhouette coming towards her and a large smile spread across her face at the sight of it. She jumped off of the swing and sprang towards him, tackling him into a hug. 

"Hey." She murmured into his shoulder. 

"Hey." He'd murmured back and she could hear the smile in his voice.

She pulled him over to sit on the swings and they talked for a while until, very tentatively, Beatrice brought up the topic of soulmates. Her heart dropped the very second he let out a massive groan. 

"Soulmates are such a bunch of bullshit." 

Beatrice physically recoiled at this statement. 

"I mean who's the universe to decide who we're supposed to spend eternity with?! Why are we incapable of doing that ourselves? I-I don't put any stock in it, it's such a load of utter crap." 

Beatrice could feel her eyes filling up with large hot tears, and turned her face away from him. Ben could obviously sense the change of mood and swiftly pretended to look at his watch. 

"It's getting late, I should probably go." 

He stood up from his swing, but Beatrice remained firmly seated on hers, facing away from him. 

"I guess this is goodbye then." He said. 

"Yeah, it is." Beatrice spat, still not looking at him.

"Goodbye Beatrice." 

"Ben." 

She heard him walking away, and finally let the tears that were lingering in her eyes,roll down her cheeks. How could she have been so stupid? 

Beatrice spent the next few years being very angry at Ben, mocking him and teasing him ruthlessly and mercilessly. It was the only thing that seemed to dull her continually denied heartbreak that he had caused. It was only after she moved to Messina that things changed. Hero had suggested a trip to the beach a few months after Beatrice had moved, and Beatrice, after realising that this meant bare feet, begged Hero to call it off. She couldn't find a valid enough reason for Hero to change the plans, and there was no way in hell she was telling anyone that Ben the Dick was her soulmate, and so she was stuck. Eventually she planned to just not take her shoes off, and so, no one would see her incriminating scar.  
She was sunbathing, with a copy of 'Frankenstein' plopped on her towel in front of her, when she felt the sand move, someone having sat down next to her. She looked up to see, not just anyone, but her favourite person in the whole wide world. 

"What the hell are you doing here Benedick?" She spat.

"Oh just having a seat, catching the rays and wondering why the normally very sociable Beatrice is being so unsociable." He threw back at her cheerfully. 

"I'm just not in the mood today Benedick. Now leave me alone." 

"Fine." He said. 

He got up to leave and Beatrice turned back to her book. Just as he was leaving though, he leaned down and plucked her loosely fitted sandals off of her feet, and was about to run away with them, when he saw it. His name, in his handwriting in stark white scarring across her left foot. Before he could even react, Beatrice had noticed her lack of footwear and had jumped up and grabbed for his hand, accidentally pulling off the thick leather cuff he wore around his wrist. She stared at his wrist, reading the two words, 'Beatrice Duke', encircling his wrist like a bracelet. They both stared at each other for the a moment, the feeling in the air resembling that of a showdown at noon. 

"So, secret's out. You're my soulmate and I'm yours, woop de do." Beatrice said eventually, breaking the moment of tension. 

"It was hardly a secret Beatrice." Ben spoke softly.

"You knew. You knew that night I left." Beatrice softly yelled at him.

"The night you left?" 

"When we were fourteen you asshole." 

"Oh. Oh!" 

Ben looked like he'd been hit by a truck, the pieces all fitting together now, her sudden coldness that night, her behaviour ever since. 

"Whatever Ben." 

Beatrice snatched her shoes from him, grabbed her towel and her book and started making her way back up the beach towards the car park. Ben quickly stumbled after her. 

"Bea! BEATRICE! WAIT!" He called after her. 

"What Ben?! What could you possibly have to say?" 

"I'm sorry okay! I'm sorry my fourteen year old self was so stupid and scared of commitment and I mean I didn't think that you were gonna show up then, when I was fourteen, I wasn't prepared, and then we spent time together, all that great time together that summer and I just had all these feelings that I didn't know what to do with or how to handle and what I did was wrong and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you. You're my soulmate Bea and I can't help but to love you even when you are biting my head off and yelling at me, that feeling I tried to fight so hard that summer won't ever go away and.." 

"Ben." Beatrice cut him off 

"Yes?" 

"Shut up." 

And with that she pulled him down to her and kissed him.

"Remind me to go back and punch my fourteen year old self in the face." Ben sighed after they broke apart, his breathing ragged. 

"Happily." Beatrice responded, pulling him down to kiss her again.


	9. Secretly dating - Team Blessed

Secretly dating - Team Blessed

 

It happened, as most great things, by pure coincidenceIt wasn't long after Beatrice had moved to Messina that it had happened. By what then, seemed like a cruel twist of fate, during Beatrice's first week at Messina High, she was partnered in a Physics project with none other than Benedick Hobbes. Beatrice's immediate response was to slam her head off of the desk repeatedly, whilst Ben sank so far down in his chair, he was almost touching the floor. However, this project was worth thirty percent of their final grade and they'd grumbled a small truce whilst they were working together.   
They decided to meet in a small study classroom when they both had free time in their schedules to discuss what they were actually going to do for the project. They met, they discussed with substantially less bickering than usual, and were going to leave when they encountered a problem. 

"Uhm, Beatrice?" Ben said, yanking at the door handle. 

"What?" She asked. 

"I think we might be stuck in here." 

"WHAT?!"

Beatrice shoved him out of the way and yanked at the door handle ferociously, but it would not budge. 

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" She yelled. 

"And my phone is out of charge, FUCK!" She continued. 

They had met during the last period of the day and now everyone had gone home and they'd be stuck in there until at least 6 o'clock when the cleaners came in. They talked, they had little else to do in a mostly empty study room, and inevitably that question came up. 

"Beatrice, why do you hate me so much?" Ben asked, about an hour and a half into their confinement. 

"You know exactly why." Beatrice had replied coldly. 

"Enlighten me." 

"'Friendships are like butterflies they die in three days.' Remember that conversation Ben?" Beatrice had spat at him. 

Ben turned a funny pale colour. 

"Yes." 

"After that whole summer we spent together, you went and wrecked whatever it was that we had in the space of about five minutes." 

She paused. 

"Why did you do it Benedick?" 

Ben was silent for a while, looking at his shoes. 

"Because I was scared? I don't know." 

"Scared of what?" 

"What we had, my feelings for you they, they scared me. So I cut my losses and ran. It was stupid really." 

"Yeah, it was." Beatrice agreed. 

It was quiet for a moment. 

"You had feelings for me?" Beatrice asked. 

"Yes, I guess I did, I uhm, still kind of do." 

"And yet you never picked up that I liked you too?" 

Ben started at Beatrice for a second. 

"What?" He eventually stammered. 

"I liked you, I guess, I think I still kind of do." 

Ben grinned at this. Beatrice rolled her eyes despite the smile on her face. 

"So you like me huh?" Ben said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Shut up Ben." 

"You think I'm babeilicous." 

"Oh my god." 

"You think I have the booty." 

"Shut up you giant dork." 

And at that, Beatrice closed the space between them and firmly planted a kiss on Ben's mouth. Ben responded with fervour and it wasn't long until Beatrice was sitting on his lap, hands were tangled through each other's hair, and oxygen deprivation becoming a very serious issue. They only broke apart when they heard a loud thump, the door opening and a very red-faced cleaner squealing that she'd come back later. Finally Ben and Beatrice were free. 

"So what do we tell people?" Ben asked, swinging her hand that was clutched in his, as they walked towards his car. 

"I was thinking that we don't. I mean not for a while at least. Can you imagine their faces, they'd ridicule us for months. I think it's just better if we keep it to ourselves for a bit."

Ben nodded. 

"Yes! Pedro and Claudio would be insufferable. Plus there's something fun about keeping it secret." 

And so Ben and Beatrice kept their relationship from the prying eyes of their friends, sneaking off at lunchtimes to go make out in, what was now designated, their study room, making sure to keep the door open to prevent a reenactment of what happened the first time.   
Team Love Gods hit them like a truck. Beatrice had come over to Ben's one day, declaring that he had to watch this video. They were both floored. However they decided to play along with their little game and eventually reveal that they had been wrong and prove their friends all wrong. But then Hero's party happened and it became hard to hide. Ben had become such a comfort to Beatrice, both his physical presence and his emotions, this thoughts and feelings, that she struggled to hide her attachment to him, and Ben, wanting so hard to make Beatrice feel better, gave up the pretence entirely. Naturally people noticed, but they thought it was a progression of what had happened on camera, not for months before Team Love God's inception, and so didn't prod or pry the pair's apparent newfound attachment for each other, plus Hero was the priority. It was only after that whole debacle, during their trip to the park. 

"So what's this then?" Pedro asked them in a childish game of truth or dare. 

Ben looked at Beatrice for a second and they both gave each other a small nod. 

"Well, this is two people who've been happily together since before your whole insane Love God plot and fooled you all by playing along. Hahahahahah." Ben replied coolly. 

"WHAT?!" Meg had cried. 

"How long have you actually been together?" Hero asked excitedly. 

"Well, remember when Ben and I were partners on that physics project not long after I moved and we got stuck in that infernal study room. Yeah since then." Beatrice replied in an equally cool tone as Ben. 

The whole group was stunned. 

"We did it Bea. We finally killed them all." 

Ben and Beatrice hi-fived and kissed before Beatrice put her head on his shoulder. 

"Okay, enough of that." Pedro had declared. 

"No." Ben simply said, and leaned down to kiss Beatrice again. 

"We're gross." Beatrice said, smiling, after they broke apart. 

"Yeah we are."


	10. Fake Dating AU - Team Blessed.

Ben literally came out of nowhere, and tackled an unsuspecting Beatrice, who had been quietly minding her own business, into a adjacent empty hallway, shouting: 

"THERE YOU ARE!" 

Beatrice took a moment and supported herself against a wall, before giving Benedick one of her most impressive death stares. They were at one of Meg's parties, the last of the summer before Beatrice went back home to Wellington, and Benedick had been acting more strangely than usual. 

"What, THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" Beatrice screamed at him. 

"Ineedyoutopretendtobemygirlfriend." Ben spewed the words out as if he couldn't speak fast enough. 

"You fucking what?!" 

"Well my mum's friend was over with her daughter and I stupidly mentioned that I was going to a party so she suggested that I take Cleo with me and Cleo wouldn't stop flirting with me so eventually I told her I had a girlfriend just to get her to leave me alone and you were the first girl in my eyesight and so I might have told her you were my girlfriend and I now need you to keep up the act. Please Beatrice I will never ask you for anything ever again." 

"You have got to be fucking kidding me Benedick." 

"Hey, I want to do this as much as you do, but unfortunately my big mouth had landed me in it big time and I really need help getting out of this, please Beatrice." He begged. 

Beatrice paused for a moment and grit her teeth, kind of enjoying watching Benedick visibly squirm right in front of her. 

"Fine but you so owe me big time." Beatrice eventually conceded. 

Benedick looked like he was going to burst. 

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyooouuuuuuuuu." 

Just at that moment a voice wafted in from the main party room. 

"Shit, it's Cleo." Ben whispered hurriedly. 

"You owe me so fucking much you absolutely dick." Beatrice said as she hooked her arm around Benedick's neck and pulled him into a fierce kiss, just as Cleo turned the corner. 

She made a small surprised sound and quickly bolted away from the seemingly amorous couple. The second Cleo was out of sight, Beatrice shoved Benedick away from her. They stood awkwardly for a few moments before Benedick spoke. 

"Thanks for that." He said, swaying back and forth from his toes to his heels. 

"Yeah well don't get used to it." Beatrice retorted.


	11. John/Hero - Donalduke

It was simple really. 

Everyone left, first Ben and Pedro and Balthazar for university and then Bea and Meg to Wellington, and when John returned home, Messina was feeling pretty empty for Hero. She still spoke to Claudio, although less than, before. Despite everything that had happened between them, John and Hero found themselves being drawn to each other. 

It started off as tentative friendship, small conversations at the lockers and between classes. It was only right that it was uncomfortable at the start, but Hero is nothing but a trier, always being kind to John and unfailing in her efforts to make him feel more comfortable around her. She wanted away from what had happened in the past, and this was taking steps towards that. 

Gradually, John began to feel more at home around Hero, and their budding friendship grew, from small talk at the lockers, to sitting with each other at lunch, and on occasion, hanging out outside of school. Hero brought a smile to John's face, a rare occurrence. 

It was only really from there that their relationship escalated quite quickly. They'd only really been calling each other 'friend' for a month before Hero first realised she was feeling that rather warm surge of extra affection. At first it scared her, and she hid from John for a couple of days, but who could blame her. The last time she'd felt this way it hadn't exactly ended well. 

They kissed for the first time in his room a few weeks later. They'd been doing homework, English, when John had asked her about her recent out of character behaviour. Hero had caved and told him everything. It was when she finished rambling that John had pressed his lips ever so gently to hers. He pulled back quickly and started apologising profusely. Hero only found this more endearing, and very gently pulled him in for a kiss to silence him. They both pulled back from the kiss at the same time, blushing. 

There was nothing loud about their relationship, unlike Benedick and Beatrice's. They held hands, and talked casually with each other, they sometimes kissed each other goodbye after lunch and always after a date, but there were no grand gestures of love, no loud arguments, just a nice, quiet and comfortable relationship, Hero feeling as if she fit very snugly into John's very long side. 

She meant to tell Beatrice. She knew she wouldn't be happy about it, so she kept putting it off. But then Leo happened. Her big brother, her invincible, strong big brother had cancer there was nothing she could do about it. She took off to go and tell Beatrice, but so distraught, that she forgot to tell John at all. 

When she returned, Beatrice and Benedick in tow, John was sitting on the doorstep, waiting for her. He stood up silently and hugged her as she approached him, whispering his apologies into her head, whilst she sobbed into his chest. He wanted to tell her that it would all be okay, but he knew he couldn't guarantee that. 

Beatrice, as gently as she could, brought it up later that evening, when Ben had gone out to get pizza. Hero pleaded with her to not make a big deal out of it, especially now and Beatrice just nodded silently. Even from that small interaction sh'd seen how gentle and good and kind he was to Hero. She did however promise, not to his face, to chase him with a knife if he dared to hurt her. This earned a pillow to the face from Hero. 

Beatrice wasn't completely okay with it, but she wasn't going to tell Hero that. It was going to take some time to get used to, and unfortunately the Duke family had a lot of time coming their way.


	12. When the Day met the Night (as in the song by Panic! at the Disco) - Team Blessed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song lyrics are in **

*When the moon found the sun, he looked like he was barely hanging on, but her eyes saved his life in the middle of summer*

The move had been hard for Benedick, leaving his school, all of his friends and family behind in England, his parents fulfilling a life long dream to pack up and move to New Zealand. Only a year before the move had been but a dream, but his dad's redundancy notice served as a sharp catalyst. The first six months had been hard, barely scraping by on both parents entry level job, wages and Ben's homesickness affecting his grades. But then it was summer. 

Summer was when Beatrice came. Beatrice Duke from Wellington, who quickly became his partner in crime, his closest friend and beacon for all of Benedick's happiness. He ignored the knawing at the back of his head that said she was going to leave soon, and the butterflies in the very pit of his stomach that were telling him that she was more of a friend to him. 

He had to go and ruin it didn't he? As if the last year hadn't been eventually and filled with enough change, here he was, master of his own downfall, hurting Beatrice and causing a deep rivalry between them for years to come. 

*So he said, "Would it be all right, if we just sat and talked for a little while, if in exchange for your time I give you this smile?"

So she said, "That's okay as long as you can make a promise not to break my little heart or leave me all alone in the summer."* 

Years later, when they'd both realised their stupidity, and finally admitted their feelings for each other, they often found themselves lying in the grass next to the play park that sat conveniently halfway between their houses, in the very early hours of the morning. This particular morning was the morning after their high school graduation and found the pair wrapped up in each other on the grassy verge, watching the sun slowly eating away at the darkness of the night. 

"I don't want the sun to rise." Ben murmured into her hair.

"And why's that?" She asked, turning her head up to look at him. 

"Because that means I have to go home. I'm quite comfortable where I am." He replied. 

"And I don't feel done talking to you Bea, I don't think I'll ever feel done talking to you if I'm honest." 

He was silent for a minute after that, carefully pondering and choosing his next words carefully, before letting out a shaky breath and continuing. 

"I am terrified Bea." 

She furrowed her brow. 

"Of what?" 

"University, moving on, life in general." 

"My solution, just don't think about it. We have this whole summer Ben, you and me. You're not leaving for another two and a half months, let's just enjoy the summer together okay?" 

"Okay." Ben sighed. 

"Good." Beatrice said, stretching her neck up and giving him a quick kiss. 

Ben caught her lips again, and kissed her deeply, slowly, dragging it out. He wanted her to beg him to stay, as much as she actually wanted to do so. Her heart wrenched at the idea of him moving so far after they'd not even been together for that long. But she knew it was unfair to ask him to stay. Besides they had the summer. When they finally broke apart, the sun had risen a little more, the sun glowing in the sky and the line where the day met the night was undistinguishable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many apologies for not sticking to the daily schedule, but due to unforeseen circumstances I haven't been able to write as much as I need to get up a chapter every day. So my sincerest apologies and I'm trying hard to get chapters out at least once every two days.


	13. Crossover with a webseries of your choice - Team Blessed-ish

"And we're finally here, at VidCon!" Ben exclaimed with a large flourish of his arms. 

In his excitement he'd managed to hit a tall, large man that had been passing, in the chest. 

"I am so sorry uh, sir. I wasn't paying attention." Ben gushed. 

"It's quite alright." Said the small woman that had appeared from behind the large man.

Beatrice gasped from behind the camera, suddenly realising who the couple were. 

"Are you filming?" The man asked, his mouth curling into a small wry smile. 

"Y-yes." Beatrice stammered. 

"We can't seem to escape these things, can we Lizzie?" The man remarked with a chuckle." 

Beatrice's eyes lit up behind the camera. 

"You are Lizzie Bennet and William Darcy aren't you!" She cried. 

William Darcy's face turned a light shade of pink. 

"Yes, we are." He replied. 

"Who?" Ben asked. 

"Really Ben?!" Beatrice cried. 

"Please ignore my very ignorant boyfriend." She said, turning to the couple. 

"It's fine really." Lizzie reassured them. 

"Are you going to put this on YouTube?" Darcy asked. 

"No, no! We're just filming it for us. We're taking a year out and traveling right now and we're filming stuff just for ourselves. We've done the YouTube thing but we're done with that now." Ben explained. 

"Really? What was your channel?" Lizzie asked. 

"I was uhm, Benaddiction and she was Nothing Much to Do." Ben replied.

"Well it was lovely to meet you, even if you did attack my fiancé." Lizzie laughed. 

"Again, I am so sorry!" Ben apologised. 

"It's already forgotten." Darcy reassured. 

"What were your names again?" Lizzie asked. 

"Beatrice Duke and Benedick Hobbes." Beatrice replied. 

"Well it was lovely to meet you Benedick and Beatrice. I hope that we bump into you again over the weekend." Darcy said, a small smile on his face. 

"It was nice to meet you too! My cousin will be so jealous that we met you." Beatrice exclaimed to them.

They said their goodbyes and the couple smiled at them and retreated slowly from them. As soon as they were out of sight, Beatrice hit Benedick very hard on the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Ben squealed, rubbing his arm. 

"We were just stood in front of one of the most popular vloggers of the last few years and you said 'Who?!' You tit!"


	14. “Merry Christmas” (back when Team Blessed hated each other) - Team Blessed

It was the holiday season after the summer that saw the beginning and the end of Benedick and Beatrice burgeoning relationships and they had both been dragged unwillingly to Hero and Leo's mum's Christmas party. They were both as happy to be there as they would be in the middle of a root canal because when you're fourteen years old, you are so over Christmas. They were both stood, begrudgingly watching the festivities from opposite sides of the room, both sipping on alcohol disguised as soft drinks that they'd swiped from the drinks table. Over the course of the evening, Ben, slowly slid around the room, towards Beatrice, watching her resist Hero's many pleas to dance with her. He eventually found himself standing next to her, swirling his glass in his hand. 

"What do you want Dickface?" Beatrice spat, not looking at him. 

"I thought you'd like some company." 

"Not yours." 

Ouch, Ben thought. 

"Well excuse me for wanting to be considerate." Ben spat back. 

"Please, you don't have a considerate bone in your body." 

Ben humphed as he thudded his back against the wall. He stood there for another couple of minutes, feeling Beatrice's rage growing next to him, until she finally exploded.

"Would you just leave me alone! I don't want you here! Go AWAY!" She screamed. 

Ben turned to look at her, anger and hurt on a scale he'd never felt before rising up through him. He was on the verge of giving Beatrice back as good as good as she gave, when a distance aunt or cousin, relative to some sort, of Beatrice's and Hero's, sprung up out of nowhere. 

"You must be Benedick!" The aunt/cousin/relative cried. 

"You know, Hermione told me you two were so inseparable this summer! Ah young love! I'd have loved to have met my Stephen when I was your age, it would have made things so much easier, but hey that's just how life goes isn't it." 

The relative grinned wide, whilst Benedick and Beatrice stood before her, red as tomatoes. 

"Oh my dears, no need to be embarrassed. Even your Auntie's Beatrice dear, were talking about you two. I believe a pool about when you'd finally announce it started, not long after the two of met!" The relative laughed. 

Beatrice took this slight pause as her opportunity to interject. 

"Aunt Helena! Benedick and I are not together. We will never be together, okay!?" Beatrice half screeched. 

Aunt Helena just laughed again. 

"Oh my dear." She said, patting Beatrice on the cheek. 

"They all say that." 

She winked at the pair, and glided away. Benedick and Beatrice stood in joined mortified silence for a while after that. 

"T-thanks." Benedick eventually sputtered.

"For correcting her." He continued. 

"You're welcome." Beatrice muttered, taking a large gulp of her drink. 

They stood next to each other for the rest of the evening, not even looking at each other. When it was time for Benedick to leave they even managed to mutter quiet "Merry Christmas"'s to each other. 

Many moons later, at the first of Beatrice's auntie's Christmas parties after Benedick and Beatrice had eloped, they made sure to stay far, far, far away from Beatrice's Great Aunt Helena.


End file.
